Behind The Mask
by Fiendish Kitten
Summary: Several years after Sly 3, a new thief, Matt Tember, steps into action. Matts dream is to become a master thief just like his idol, Sly Cooper.
1. Chapter 1

OK, you may remember me writing a story called _Enter Matt Tember_. Well this is the sequel to it. And yes, it IS complete.

Oh yeah! And if you have a Sly-related website, then you can put this on there!!!

Behind the Mask

By Fiendish Kitten

Chapter One.

"See you later". The thief left his crew behind, where they were safe in the safehouse. He pulled out his binocucom. "There it is" he said, when he found what he had been looking for. "Inspector Fox's office. Whoa…" He examined his route. The gateway into the office was blocked by Inspector Fox's tough security guards. Fortunately for the thief, there were several lampposts and pipes that he could climb, since he was a good climber. 

The thief shut down his binocucom and began to make his way towards the office of Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox. Occasionally, he would use his Back-Seeing Goggles to check that there were no guards, searchlights or lasers creeping up on him.

"There it is" the thief wheezed and puffed; he had been climbing for quite a while. "Just… one… set… of… pipes… left!" After an exhausting 10 minutes, he had reached the fire exit of Inspector Fox's office. And typical. The door was locked. However, the light was still on. The light revealed the thief's identity. It was not Sly Cooper, the well-known master thief. It was Matt Tember, a sly fox around the age of 21, with punk-style hair, green in colour. He wore a red sweater.

Matt peered through the glass. Carmelita was nowhere to be seen. The whole office, empty to him. And he needed to get that police file on him; he needed to learn about his long-lost family.

Matt pulled out his binocucom. "Lawrence" he whispered into the microphone section. "The door's locked. What do I do?"

Lawrence, probably the smartest toad on the planet and "the Brains" of Matt's gang, replied, "OMG that's a toughie. Try using that Swiss Army Knife I got you for Christmas."

"The Swiss… oh yeah!" Matt had remembered now. That small knife, with over fifteen attachments, including a wire-stripper, a can-opener, an All-Lock key, a saw, a pair of scissors, and a pen. A must for any thief. Matt sorted out the All-Lock key and inserted it into Carmelita's office door. It worked. "Lawrence, my boy, you're a genius!" smiled Matt through the binocucom. "Tell Garry to pick me up at the rendevous."

Matt crept into the office of Inspector Fox. In a corner were a series of filing cabinets. "Let's see" said Matt slyly. He opened the "T-Z" drawer. "Tember… Tember… Tannest, Teddington, Tosco… I'M NOT… Oh." He had only just remembered that he had a special cabinet. In the opposite corner to where Matt was standing, there were two filing cabinets, full to the brim. One, of course, was his cabinet. The other cabinet belonged to that Sly Cooper dude.

Matt went over to his own cabinet and opened up the first drawer. Trouble was, it was ALREADY open! Matt banged his head on the drawer. He swore very loudly. Then he began searching for his file. "OK, so we're looking for Personal File… let's see.. Icestone of Bombay… Incident in Morocco… Spanish fete… Nope. Not here."

He then moved on to the second drawer. "Right. Aakash's Royal Ball… Chinese New Year Incident… Not here either! That means it's gotta be in the third drawer." Matt opened the third drawer. A single piece of card, folded up, lay there. Matt read the front. "Open for a big surprise. OK. Might as well." Suddenly, an alarm rang. Matt had only just reached the door when…

"FREEZE!" Matt looked up. Standing right in front of him was Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox! Matt didn't know why water was dripping from her hair, jacket and trousers, but he knew that he had to get out of here! "Quick!" he breathed through his binocucom. "Get over here… NOW!"

Matt began to run, all the way dodging the deadly blasts from Carmelita's shock pistol. Eventually, he arrived at an alley where the Tember Getaway Van was waiting for him. Matt leapt inside. "Hit it Garry!"

Garry, the oversized bulldog and "the Muscle" for the Tember Gang, didn't need telling twice. He stepped on the accelerator. Behind them, the Gang could hear Carmelita's voice, echoing, "I'LL GET YOU MATT TEMBER!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two.

(This occurred just before Chapter One)

"See ya later!" The thief bid goodbye to his team-mates and left them safely in the safehouse. He pulled out his binocucom. "Right. Carmelita's office. Let's see… AHA!"

He could see the office in the distance. What was also interesting to him was that he could just see Inspector Fox unlocking the office door. The thief had a sneaky plan in order to break in.

"Hey! Inspector Fox!" he yelled. "Still looking for a date to the prom?"

From the distance, Carmelita shined her bright light onto the thief's face. This revealed the thief's identity. Sly Cooper, the world's most wanted master raccoon thief.

"YOU!" Carmelita shouted. "I'll get you, Cooper!"

Sly ran towards the office, as Carmelita ran towards him. He was the quickest, not to mention all the ticks and traps he laid out. He left a decoy on a boat as he climbed a pipe up to Carmelita's office.

Carmelita did not see Sly climbing the pipe, but she did see what she thought was him, standing on a boat. "Now I've got you now!" she cackled. She jumped down. "FREEZE!" She shot "Sly" and suddenly, boat, decoy and Carmelita fell into the deep river below.

The real Sly had managed to reach Carmelita's office. "Well done, Sly, old chap!" said his companion, Bentley Wiseturtle, through the binocucom. "Now, a recap of your mission. You need to steal the private file of Matt Tember."

"Matt Tember. Got it." Sly switched off his binocucom, and made his way into Carmelita's office. He had been here once before, but now the organization had changed. Several large filing cabinets stood in the corner of the room. Sly opened the drawer entitled "T-Z".

"Now… let's see… Thomas, Tannen, Tosco… no Tember. Are you playing tricks on me, Bentley?"

"No! Course not!" came Bentley's angry reply through the binocucom. "It's next to your filing cabinet!"

"Wh- oh yeah!" Sly suddenly remembered that he had a filing cabinet all to himself. Opposite the spot where he was standing were two large filing cabinets. One, obviously, was his own. The other had to be the property of that Matt Tember guy.

"Right" said Sly. "His personal file… first time lucky!" Matt Tember's personal file was lying right in the center of the first drawer. "Goddit! Oh yeah…" Sly reached into his backpack to grab a calling card. Drat! None left! He then remembered the Alarm Cards that Murray had got him for his birthday. "This'll get the old fox into trouble" he said slyly, as he placed the Alarm Card into the third drawer.

Sly made his way out of Inspector Fox's office, not realizing that he had left the first drawer open! He picked up the key and locked the door. He pocketed the key.

"Wow!" said Sly through his binocucom. "That was a clean sweep!" And just like that, the Cooper Getaway Van arrived. Sly hopped in. "Bye, Carmelita!" he yelled back. "Hope you don't drown!"

As the Van drove away, Carmelita pulled herself onto shore. "I'LL GET YOU, SLY COOPER!" she bellowed. "Now… has anyone got a towel?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three.

Matt was so disappointed that he hadn't got his file. "What on earth could have happened to it?" he kept asking himself and Lawrence and Garry. The best they could come up with was that Carmelita had the file in her clutches, where it would be kept safe from criminals.

Meanwhile, just a short while back, Sly was reading Matt Tember's police file to Bentley and Murray. "His father and mother were both master thieves, and they were very proud to have a son follow in their footsteps. Not so happy about it though, was Matt Tember's sister… OMG!"

Murray, who had been speeding at 60m.p.h., crashed into the Van in front. "What? What is it, Sly?"

"It's Matt Tember's sister! She's…"

But Bentley interrupted. "Murray, what was the matter with you? You could have killed somebody!"

"Sorry, Bentley."

"Sorry won't do it, Murray. Come on guys, let's go see if anyone is hurt."

"What happened?" asked Matt from inside the Tember Van.

"I dunno" replied Garry. "But the Van won't start. Great. Carmelita'll be onto us for sure!"

"Err… maybe we can help you?" said a voice from behind. Matt, Garry, and Lawrence turned round to see Sly, Murray and Bentley standing opposite them.

Sly looked at the photo pinned to Matt Tember's police file. Then he looked at Matt. "You're… Matt Tember!" he gasped.

Matt was very surprised. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "Sly Cooper! I can't believe I'm meeting you at last!" He held out his hand for Sly to shake.

"I can't believe I'm meeting you, either!" exclaimed Sly, shaking Matt's hand. Bentley and Lawrence then shook hands with each other, as did Murray and Garry.

"Sorry about your Van, guys", said Murray. "I got too distracted."

"Oh, it's OK," said Matt. "Garry is quite a careless driver as well. If he wasn't eating while he was driving…"

The Tember Gang and the Cooper Gang began to talk. Murray and Garry were having competitions to see who could make the loudest burp. Lawrence and Bentley were discussing really hard math problems. Sly and Matt were recalling their visits to Carmelita's office.

"So Sly", began Matt, "I was just wondering, why you wanted my personal profile."

"Because, Matt, my dear friend, if Bentley's calculations are correct, you were the only one who knew the location of the Ruby Rabbit. I needed your profile to track you down."

"What's the Ruby Rabbit?"

"It's a very expensive piece of art, worth millions of coins. Imagine what Thiefnet would take for it!"

"And we'd get their whole stock!" exclaimed Matt. "Imagine what Carmelita would think if she saw us wearing the Teleport-Ring?"

"Yeah!" said Sly. "But the trouble is, Matt mate, the Threatening Three stole the Rabbit. Your personal file contains a little detail on the Threatening Three…"

"They killed my brother!" roared Matt. "I remember now! The Threatening Three killed my brother, Rory Tember, the master thief of all… except you, Sly…! Well, it's time they met…"

"The Murray!" interrupted Murray, stepping in between the two thieves.

"The Garry!" exclaimed Garry, saying his name at the very same time that Murray said his.

"That was why I wanted my profile, about my family!" remembered Matt. "The Threatening Three, they killed my brother, I needed their personal details!"

"Which was what I've been trying to tell you" sighed Lawrence. "Is your one ever like that, Bentley?"

Bentley hesitated. "Well, he's sarcastic 24-7, but never forgetful."

"You got that right Bentley," said Sly. OK, everyone, let's get in the Van and track down the first member of the Threatening Three."

The six of them leapt into the Cooper Van, leaving the Tember Van behind. Garry was upset about leaving his Van behind, but Bentley told him that he had to move on, having recalled the time when Murray temporarily lost the Cooper Van. They hit the road after about 3 minutes.

"Right" said Sly. "Let's see… Matthew Jonathan Tember… born 2nd October 1984 to…"

"SLY!" bellowed Bentley, "Matt's personal information is not important at this stage! We need details on the first member of the Threatening Three!"

"OK, OK, sorry Bentley… you wanna tell us, Matt?"

"Sure thing, buddy!" smiled Matt. "Now, everyone, the first member of the Threatening Three is Mike Jackson the grizzly bear. Having retired from his circus days, he started life as a tap-dancer in Hamburg, Germany. For a short while he had over 20,000 fans, but six years later, tap-dancing went out of fashion, and Jackson was out of business. He became outraged when he saw people asking for autographs of street-dancers. So Jackson built a Go-Go Machine, which, when used on passers-by, turns them into non-stop tap-dancing zombies. The zombies would then tag others, who would join Jackson's army."

"Right," said Sly. "You got all that, Bentley?"

"I sure have Sly, and apparently Penelope is in Germany too! If we could get hold of her, our plans to destroy the Go-Go Machine will be made easier!"

"How?"

"Because the bombs from her RC Chopper are indestructible. Hit it, Murr… er, Garry! Next stop, Hamburg!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four.

Back in Paris, Carmelita searched the streets furiously for a towel. She had even tried bribing local residents: "If you can give me a towel, AND catch Cooper and Tember, I will pay you a million coins!" But they ignored her.

So she made her way back up to her office, where she would forget all that had just happened. The trouble was, how was she going to get in the office? The key was not in the door!

Carmelita searched furiously for the key; in her pockets, under the door-mat, even in her underpants! No luck! "GRR!" she growled. "They've made off with my key! And I'm locked out of my own office!"

Then, to make matters worse, a police car showed up, an out stepped the new Police Chief, Chief Porter. He was an enormous gorilla, his clothes too small for him. He had the "Don't mess with me" face, and sticking out of his fat lip was a lit cigar.

"Inspector Fox?" he asked, removing the cigar.

Carmelita gulped. "That's me!"

"Why are you all ringing wet?" asked the Chief.

"Well, I…"

"Why are you not in your office?"

"I was, but…"

"And why are you STAMMERING?" barked Chief Porter, particularly on the last word.

"OK, Chief" Carmelita calmed down. "I'll tell you what happened. I was on my night-time patrol, and my eyes feasted on one Sly Cooper. So I hunted him down, saw him standing on a boat, shot him, and fell in the water. And it wasn't Cooper that I shot. It was a dummy. So then, I just make my way onto shore, see Cooper driving away, and the next thing you know, that Matt Tember's about! Eventually I catch up with him, but he escapes!"

Porter was not impressed. "You mean to tell me" he said loudly, "that you cannot control two criminals?"

"But… but…"

"No if's, and's, or but's, Inspector Fox!" roared the Chief. "I'm gonna do something that Barkley should've done years ago! I'm replacing you!" As he said his line, the Chief removed Carmelita's police badge and shock pistol. "Come here" he said to someone in the car. That someone stepped out. That someone was…

"Neyla?!"

"That's INSPECTOR Neyla to you" replied the purple tigress, as she put her badge on. "Now, I suggest you get outta here before I slap the cuffs on you."

Carmelita did as she was told. "You'll regret this!" she spat at her replacement.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five.

It had taken four whole hours for the Cooper Gang and the Tember Gang to finally arrive at Hamburg, Germany. Many lights were still on, because there were lots of pubs and beer-houses in Germany. Several Germans were eating wursts (German sausages) and bread rolls. Accompanying the food was a pot of thick yellow mustard. 

"Sly, Matt, be careful", warned Bentley, pointing to two dumb-looking ape guards, who were drinking root beer. "They might look dumb and drunk, but it won't put them off the job, so be careful."

"Why are we standing around?" asked Sly.

"Because we don't have a Safehouse yet… come on, let's look around… and be quiet!"

"O…K…" whispered Matt slowly.

They tiptoed round the streets of Hamburg for about ten minutes, in search of a safehouse. "Hey!" said Lawrence. "What about there?" He pointed to a treehouse with a small window inside.

"Err…OK" said Bentley. "But there's no ladder. How do we get up there?"

"I've got an idea!" piped up Sly. "Murray, do you still have your Aboriginal Ball Move that the Guru taught you?"

"Why… yes, I do, Sly" replied Murray. "Why d'you ask?"

"Well, er, you can use your Ball to jump to the top, and see those planks of wood? Well, you can drop one down, and we could climb up!"

"Er, OK then… Here goes" Murray took a deep breath, and jumped to an amazing height! He managed to reach the treehouse, where there were several long planks of wood piled up neatly in a corner. Murray formed a "slide" with the planks. The rest of the team climbed up.

"Well done, Murray", said Garry, speaking for the first time since they had arrived in Hamburg.

"No problemo" said Murray. "Come on, let's go on in!"

They walked inside their new safehouse. And surprise, surprise! Everything they needed was here! A PlayStation2 console in the corner of the room. Ten comfortable red chairs, seated round a very long table. A refrigerator in another corner, stacked high with food. Everything they ever wanted. They were just enjoying themselves when a small figure about Bentley's size jumped down from the rafters. It was a very familiar pink mouse, wearing glasses that reminded you of the full moon.

"Penelope?"

"Bentley! Oh, I missed you so much!" Penelope ran up to Bentley and gave him hugs and kisses. "Sly! Murray! How are you? And who are you?" she said to Matt, Lawrence and Garry.

"Tember's the name" said Matt, bowing before Penelope. "Matt Tember. My friends, Lawrence and Garry."

"How do you do?" Penelope shook hands with the Tember Gang. "Why don't y'all have a seat?"

When they had seated, Bentley and Matt told Penelope about the Threatening Three and Jackson's Go-Go Machine.

"True. Heard about it myself" Penelope replied. "I say we destroy it!"

"Me too" said Sly. "Hey, isn't this the time where we conduct a plan to stop the bad guys?"

"Good thinking, Sly" said Bentley. "OK, guys, listen up. There's gonna be a dance recital tomorrow night. The first thing we gotta do is break into Mike Jackson's heavily-guarded office, that's where he keeps the Machine. To do that, we need to drive the guards away. The only way to do that is for Sly to go undercover…"

"Hey, I'm a master thief, too!" interrupted Matt. "Can't I go undercover?"

Bentley sighed. "Oh, very well. Sly and Matt will go undercover as guards. I've supplied your uniforms here, so you don't have to worry about stealing. Hopefully, the disguises will work, and with that you will ask the local guards for the password into Jackson's office. Once you are inside, call me and Lawrence on the binocucom. We will hack into the computer that is supporting the lasers guarding the machine. Murray, Garry, you will then carry the machine back here to the safehouse, where we will jam it up… with JAM!"

"Jam?" chorused Murray and Gary together.

"Yep, that's right" said Bentley. "Jam. From Jerry's Bar and Diner, across the road. To get the jam, Penelope will walk in, naked…"

"Hey!" shrieked Penelope. "I hope you don't mean it!"

"No! Course not" laughed Bentley. "You will... become sexy! I've got a disguise here that'll make people believe you're the bar's sexy new waitress. Anyway, while that's happening, Sly will sneak in and get the jam. Then all we have to do is jam up Jackson's machine, then we replace it again! Then, at the dance recital, Sly and Matt will sneak up to the top of the stage, disguised as guards, and when Jackson uses the Go-Go Machine, jam will spurt in his face, then you two pull the red lever to land an eavesdrop on Jackson. All clear of that, everyone?"

Everybody nodded. "OK", said Bentley. "Put these disguises on, Sly and Matt. Penelope, you too, and everyone get ready!" He handed two security guards' costumes to Sly and Matt, and to Penelope a waitress' uniform, modified to make it look sexy. They hastily put their costumes on.

Sly and Matt walked down the ramp. "OK, Sly" said Matt. "Our objective is to ask local guards for the password into Jackson's office. Now, we don't want them knowing we're thieves, so you take that path, and I'll take this. Let me know once you've got the password."

"OK" said Sly. He took the right path, and Matt took the left. Several guards were patrolling around. "Hmm". He crept up to a dog guard, cleared his throat, and said in a German accent, "Excuse me, partner, but do you happen to know ze passvord into ze boss's office?"

"Sorry. No." The dog guard eyed Sly suspiciously as he went.

Matt wasn't having much luck either. Two guards he had asked had already said no.

Hope came when a goat guard said to Sly, "Yes. I do know the password. But first, I want you to prove you're one of us. What's my teddy bear's name?"

Sly thought. "Teddy bear? Hmm… Teddy? Mr. Cuddles? Bozo? No, not one of those. I wonder if any of the guards know?"

"Hey, pal" said Sly to the goat guard. "I need the bathroom."

"No problem" grunted the goat, letting Sly go.

Sly searched around the city, looking for guards. Eventually he caught up with the dog guard that he'd seen before.

"You!" grunted the dog. "What are you doing here?"

"Um… I just wondered if you knew that goat guard's teddy bear's name."

"Aw, he's always talking about Jackie. Why?"

Before he could continue, Sly sped off to meet the goat guard again. "I just remembered!" he shouted. "Your teddy bear's name is Jackie!"

"Right you are" said the goat in reply. "And here's the password, like I promised. It's wurst."

"Thanks." Leaving the goat guard behind, Sly ran up to the top of a hill, where Jackson's office was situated. He pulled out his binocucom. "Great news, Matt! I've got the password!"

"Thanks!" replied Matt. "I'll be there right away. Bentley, Sly's got the password. Start hacking!"

"No can do!" replied Bentley through Matt's binocucom. He then turned to his computer. "Ah, nothing like a computer hack job!" Hacking was very easy. There was nothing that Bentley loved more than shooting enemy viruses. Once the job was done, Bentley told Sly to go into Jerry's Bar and Diner, where Penelope was already causing a distraction. Then Bentley turned to Murray and Garry. "OK, you know what to do. Get that machine!"

While Murray and Garry were heaving the machine back to the safehouse, Penelope was causing a distraction to the men in Jerry's Bar & Diner. Nobody noticed Sly and Matt sneak under the bar and into the out-of-bounds kitchen.

"OK, jam" said Sly. "Jam… jam…"

"Got it!" said Matt. "Let's get Penelope and go!"

Penelope was still showing off for the men's attention. When she saw Sly and Matt, she waved, causing her costume to drop! She ran quickly out of Jerry's.

"Wow!" said an ape-man. "She's nude!" He took a photo of the "nude" Penelope. What he didn't know was that his brother had set it on fire using his lit cigar.

Eventually, everybody had made it back to the safehouse. "Brilliant!" said Lawrence. "Now to fill it up with jam…" He poured some jam into the machine.

"That should do it" said Bentley. "ShowTime tomorrow night!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six.

(Shortest chapter)

Carmelita looked back at what had once been her office. The tiny light in the distance… She had now been walking for two hours, waiting for a miracle of some sort to happen.

Fired. Again. All because of that Cooper jerk that she had been chasing for years now. Him and his gang. To make matters worse, she had been double-outsmarted by that fraud Matt Tember and his group.

But what really freaked out ex-Inspector Fox was that her replacement was none other than Neyla, the woman who betrayed her, Interpol, the Klaww gang, and the Cooper Gang two years ago. Carmelita had sworn that Neyla was dead… something involving her and Cooper had destroyed Neyla, while she was controlling the robotic owl Clockwerk. Did this mean that Neyla had two lives?

Carmelita Fox was having none of it. She would put a stop to Neyla's Inspector duties. She would become Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox once again! But how was she going to do it?

She thought to herself. "Ah! Here's something I haven't tried!" she exclaimed. "What if I disguise myself as a thief, hang around with those dorks, and when Neyla comes to arrest us, pull off my disguise? Yeah! Inspector Fox, you've done it again!"

Carmelita spotted a disguise shop several paces ahead. She threw a brick at the glass window and jumped inside the shop. Eventually she found a disguise that suited her: a pair of nerd-like glasses, a leather jacket, a necklace saying BLING! and a pair of baggy jeans. She put the lot on, and shouted, "Goodbye, Carmelita Fox, hello…"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven.

"Gerald King?"

"That's a-me." Carmelita, or should we say Gerald, had bought a very cool car and had driven to Hamburg where Sly, Matt and the gang were. "And I'd like to join your gang."

"Why?" asked Bentley. "The gang's pretty full anyway…"

Sly looked into Carmelita's eyes. "You look kinda familiar" he said. "Have I seen you before?"

"Um… maybe… at the Sly Cooper Fan Club? I've definatly seen you, Mr. Cooper… and I'm your biggest fan."

"My biggest fan?"

"Hell yeah!" she replied. "And I can't wait to tell my mates that I was working with Sly Cooper! And Matt Tember, of course! Why, I remember your brother in his thieving days" she added to Matt. "He was a God, just like you, Mr. Cooper…"

"Sly" Sly butted in. "Call me Sly. And yes, Gerald. I'll let you into the gang."

But Murray interrupted, "Err, Sly, I don't think it's wise to let him in, he could be a spy in disguise…"

"Aw, quit your worrying Murray. He'll be fine. Welcome to the family Gerald." He shook Carmelita's hand.

Bentley then signaled his alarm. "Uh-oh, Jackson is making his way towards his office! We have to get the Go-Go Machine back there!"

"How do we do that?" asked Matt curiously.

"Well, err, you and Sly put your guard disguises on, distract Jackson as much as you can. Meanwhile, Murray and Garry will drive the Machine back to the office."

"What do we do when we've done that?" asked Garry.

Lawrence replied, "Stick to Bentley's plan, everybody. Sly and Matt will sneak up to the top of the stage to land that eavesdrop on Mike Jackson. The rest of us will keep watch as if we are members of the crowd. Except you, Gerald" he said to Carmelita. "You come up with a backup plan. Stand near the stage."

"Gotcha" said everybody together.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" shrieked Bentley. "Let's go!"

Murray and Garry leapt into the Van and sped as fast as they could towards Mike Jackson's office. At the same time, Matt and Sly used their teamwork to track down Jackson. Sly used his binocucom, whilst Matt pointed him out. Eventually they managed to track him down.

"Err… boss?" said Sly, in his German accent.

Jackson turned around. "Yes?"

Matt gulped. "We were just wondering if… if… you're wearing the right colour suit!" He then slapped himself. Only an idiot could have thought of a worse question.

"What? Pink's not my colour? I could go back to the office and change if you insist."

"Er, no, no! You'd only waste time! The recital starts in about fifteen minutes!" said Sly.

"And pink really SUITS you, Sir!" added Matt. He then looked into the distance. He could just make out the tiny figure of Murray climbing back into the Cooper Getaway Van. "Er, actually, boss, we'd better get going. Harrison told me some troublemakers are about."

"OK then" said Jackson in reply. "See you, boys!"

"See ya, Sir!" replied Sly. "Come on, partner. Let's go." Once Jackson was off the scene, he spoke through the binocucom. "OK, plan's set. See you at the recital."

"Excellent" said Carmelita, or Gerald. "See you soon, boys!"

The recital had then begun. Jackson was tap-dancing along to a catchy tune of music. What he didn't know was that Sly and Matt were climbing the stage's pipes. Eventually they had made it to the top… and just in time, too. Jackson had pulled out his Go-Go Machine, and was starting to fire it. However, when he had pressed the red button, a big dollop of jam had landed in his face! From the seats, Bentley gave Sly and Matt a thumbs-up. Next thing you know, a piano had fallen on top of Jackson. The music stopped. Several people started to make their way toward the stage, leaping at Jackson's dead body. Nobody saw the Cooper Gang leave the recital (and Germany) apart from Carmelita, still disguised as Gerald, and Inspector Neyla. Neither of them saw each other, or the Cooper Gang. Failing to catch Cooper and Tember, Neyla arrested Jackson instead.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight.

Matt was holding a clipboard in his hand with the names of the Threatening Three written on it. He crossed out Jackson's name. "I couldn't have done it without you guys" he said to Sly, Bentley and Murray.

The next few days were spent travelling around the world. They had little known fact that Gerald King was actually Carmelita, and they had little known fact that Carmelita had been replaced by Neyla. They had visited many countries, old and new, and had even picked up the Guru from the Australian Outback. To make matters better, Penelope had won the Dogfight in Holland, and Murray, with the help of Garry, had raced to victory in the Mexico Grand Prix.

But now, fun was over, and the Cooper-Tember Gang was back in business. They had studied up on the second member of the Threatening Three. Their next opponent was a squirrel named Nelson. Born with extra-large teeth and a bushy tail, he was picked on by other children. He did, however, idolize the comic-book superhero Captain Lightning, and ambitioned to be just like him.

Unfortunately his plans were unsuccessful. So he became a mad scientist, and built himself armour-plated equipment with built-in damaging missiles. Anyone who messed with this supervillain would be under his control. He currently resides in London, England, where he is about to receive the ultimate doom, the TornadoFly, which would enable Nelson to fly and hypnotize the streets of London at the same time.

By the time Sly and the gang had reached London, they could not believe their eyes. More shops than there were in the whole of New York! There was an unused alchemist's, which the gang used as their safehouse. Murray was about to go to the hamburger stall, as was Penelope to the mechanic's, and Guru to the yoga practice, but Bentley pulled them away. "We're on a job, remember!" He pulled them all into the safehouse to formulate a plan.

"Right" he told them all. "We've got to stop that TornadoFly from getting here. That way, Nelson won't be able to use it, and the streets of London will be saved."

"How do we do that?" asked the Guru, translated from his own language.

Bentley was just about to reply when Lawrence interrupted, "Well, it's pretty simple really. The TornadoFly is due tomorrow, and the delivery guy is using some high-tech technology."

Everybody gasped. "Like robots?" asked Murray. "I've always wanted a pet rob…"

"Murray, ssh" said Bentley. "Carry on, Lawrence."

Lawrence continued. "So we need to take out all the delivery guy's security, and stop him from getting to Nelson's place. Garry, do you remember those big boulders we passed just now?"

"Oh yeah" Garry replied.

"Well, you and Murray will each take a certain amount and stack them in big piles at each end of the city."

"Nice plan, Lawrence" said Matt. Sly nodded in agreement. "But what about that slip road I saw earlier?"

Lawrence slapped his right hand against his head like Homer Simpson. "Darn, I forgot about that! Bentley, do you have any thoughts on that?"

"Indeed I do, my good friend. Guru, do you remember that water tower? Well, all you gotta do is "possess" some local guards, and ram them into the tower. This will cause the tower to collapse, and hopefully it will block the delivery guy's path. About 5 guards should do the trick."

The Guru was delighted. "I love ramming things! Especially with guards!" he said, translated from his own language yet again.

Lawrence then moved on. "That'll be all the roads blocked… what about the skies, though? And the waters?"

"Penelope can take care of that" said Bentley.

The pink mouse jumped for joy the moment she heard the mention of her name. "You betcha, Bentley! Nobody messes with me and my RC Chopper! I'm the pink mouse with the black attitude, so beware!"

Bentley giggled. "You tell 'em Penelope! That's my girl! Now, what about the waters? None of us can swim!"

"What about Dimitri?" asked Murray. Everybody was looking at him; no wonder; it was the smartest thing Murray had said in quite a while.

"Good thinking, Murray!" cried Bentley. "Then we…"

Then Sly interrupted, "But what's my job?"

The turtle giggled. "Sly! As if I'd leave you out of any heist! You have the most important job of all: unplugging the electric. With no lights on, the delivery guy would think he'd got the wrong place! Oh yeah, you also have to find Dimitri. Word says he's in the local bar."

"Right" said Sly. "I best go get him now. You wanna come with me, Matt?"

"Oh, sure, why not?" The two heroes then left the safehouse in search for Dimitri. It wasn't long before the other gang members set out to do their jobs.

First up were Murray and Garry, the muscles. They had immediately spotted a pile of over 75 slimy black boulders. Murray and Garry each took a boulder, and each ran to one end of the city of London. When they had placed the boulder, each of them ran back to get another boulder.

Next was Penelope's RC Chopper. Bentley had modified the Chopper by adding a FireHomer (which shoots balls of fire, which chase after opponents). Penelope's job was therefore made easier, since the homing fireballs never missed a target.

Next up was the Guru. With the help of his magical transformation technique, he was kept out of danger from passing guards. Whenever a guard came by, he waited for the guard to pass, and then he would jump on the guard's back, leading him ramming into the water tower. "Phew! Four guards left!" Guru wheezed in his own language.

Sly and Matt were having difficulty finding Dimitri. They had searched two bars, there had been no sign of him. "Third time lucky, I hope" said Matt, as he and Sly walked through the door of a third bar called The Dancing Pony.

"You're absolutely right, Matt!" said Sly. "Look!" He pointed to the far left-hand corner, where an unmistakable iguana, in a green suit, was standing.

"Cooper!" he shrieked. "We meet again! And what's this?" he looked at Matt. "Brought a friend, have you?" 

'OH, WHERE ARE MY MANNERS?" cried Sly. "Dimitri, this is Matt Tember. Matt, this is an old friend - and foe - of mine, Dimitri Lou…"

"SSH! DON'T SAY THE SURNAME!" the iguana barked in his French accent. "Anyway, nice to meet you Tember." He shook Matt's hand. "What do you want me for anyway?" he asked Sly.

"Well, you ever heard of a guy named Nelson who was planning to hypnotize the city using the TornadoFly?"

"Ya?"

"Well, we've got to stop the delivery guy from delivering it to him. And he could get in any way… through the sky… underwater… and since you're our underwater expert, you've got to stop him!"

"And how do I do that?"

"Swim underwater and if you see any holes leading anywhere, block them up."

"Roger." Dimitri replied. "Now let's go!" The three of them then left the bar and set off towards the River Thames. By then, Dimitri had changed into his scuba-diving gear.

"Bentley will tell you what to do, through the binocucom" said Matt. "See ya later!" Dimitri bid farewell to Sly and Matt and leapt into the water.

Sly and Matt ran back to the safehouse where the rest of the gang were waiting. "Did you do it?" asked a curious Bentley.

"Yep" replied Sly. "Dimitri's dong his thing as we speak."

"Well, how come the power lines are still on?"

"Oh yeah!" replied Sly. "Come on, Matt…"

"No, this is a job for you ALONE, Sly" replied his turtle companion. "Let Matt have some rest."

"Oh, alright then" Sly ventured out into the city, in search of the electrical cables. All he needed to do was pull out a few wires… how hard could it be? He had only just reached the box when a voice from behind him shouted, "Freeze, Cooper!"

Sly turned around to see a shadowy figure behind him. "Carmelita?"

The figure then stepped into the pure light, revealing her identity. Sly WAS shocked! "N…Neyla?! I thought you were dead!"

"INSPECTOR Neyla" she corrected. "And no, I'm not dead. I jumped out of Clockwerk's body just as you and ex-Inspector Fox pulled that turret on me. And I'm afraid, Cooper, it is time to say goodbye!"

"Goodbye." Sly had then immediately cut the electrical wire. Carrying it with him, he ran as fast as he could towards the safehouse. Even though it was pitch-black, he could still see where he was going, and so could Neyla!

"Uh oh" Sly thought to himself. "She's onto me, and I can't let her see the safehouse! She'll expose the Gang! I know! What if I hide?" He looked around for a hiding-place. And there it was! A small cottage with broken windows. Sly jumped through one of the windows and hid in a tight space between a filing cabinet and a wardrobe. And he was just in time, too.

Neyla came busting through the door, her pistol pointing into the air. "FREEZE!" A man in a chair in the far left-hand corner spun around. He dropped the telephone he was holding. This was none other than Nelson!

Neyla searched the house for Sly Cooper. She ransacked the machinery that Nelson had built years ago. She tore up his paperwork and his bills. "Do you mind?" asked Nelson. "This is my house, you know."

Neyla turned to face the squirrel. "Dare you question an officer! And what is this? Ordering illegal products, I see? Well, guess what, Bushy? You'll be going to jail!" She cuffed Nelson and tossed him into the boot of her car. And without even bothering to go back to look for Cooper, she drove off.

When the coast was clear, Sly pulled out his binocucom. "Bentley, it's OK! We don't need to do any more work! Neyla's just been and arrested Nelson!"

He could hear cheering in the background. Murray then spoke. "Yes! That's a day off the job!"

"I like being on the job" said Sly. "It makes Carmelita more angrier than ever."

Sly's thoughts then turned to Carmelita. He was worried. What had happened to her? He remembered some of their finest moments together…


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine.

Carmelita was puffed out. It had been four days since she had been parted from Sly and the gang. She was still in her Gerald King disguise, and she had been walking from Hamburg to London. Unfortunately she had only got as far as Paris and she needed to catch up with Sly and the gang. She needed to arrest them in order to regain her place as Inspector.

She would look around for them. Occasionally she would see Sly or Matt's calling cards in certain places, not to mention the large amount of wanted posters.

Carmelita then walked sadly to her home, not her office. She lay sadly in her bed which had been abandoned for quite a while. She missed her job so much that tears dropped from her eyes. Carmelita picked up a photo of her family which was sitting next to the bed.

There she was, aged around sixteen, holding a certificate saying that she had graduated from high school. On either side of her were her parents who, even though they wore masks on their faces, each had one hand on her shoulder, smiling. And on her dad's other side were…

"Matt Tember?" Carmelita gasped. That was right. Matt Tember. Him and his older brother who had been killed by the Threatening Three. She had then realized her mistake. She hadn't been a good sister. If only she had been more supportive, her older brother would be still alive… And what would her parents have thought of that?

Carmelita gasped again. Her parents! They were in China, the exact same location as the third and final member of the Threatening Three! And if she didn't get there soon, her parents would be dead, and Matt, and Sly, and the rest!

She hastily packed her things and leapt out into the streets of Paris, heading for Paris Airport.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten.

Sly, Matt and the gang were driving along in the Getaway Van, studying up on the third and final member of the Threatening Three.

"He is known to be immortal", read Sly. "I bet it's Clockwerk. Listen, he even replaced his body parts with indestructible platinum! There's only one guy who can sort him out!"

"Who?" said the others in unison.

"The Panda King" said Sly.

"Well, it will be helpful" piped up Bentley, "Since we're going to China anyway. That is where the third and final member resides."

"China…" Matt began. He then gasped with horror. "CHINA?! That's where my parents are! They'll get themselves killed, just like my brother! We've got to get there NOW!"

"Hey, relax, Matt" said Sly. "We know China. Murray, hit it!"

The van then sped to a whopping 1200 miles per hour. It was amazing how Murray managed to dodge all… uh oh, I spoke too soon…

Murray had crashed into a Chinese gym. Fortunately, everyone was OK. However, the people at the gym ran out, all except one… The Panda King.

"Cooper!" he said, the moment he saw Sly. "Wiseturtle! Hippo! How are you?"

"We're fine" said Lawrence. "Except for…"

A huge owl-like figure swept across them. They all managed to duck… except for Sly and Matt, who were clutched in Clockwerk's giant claws!

"Cooper!" cried the Panda King. "Tember! Hang on fellas, the Panda King will save you!" He lit a dragon-shaped firework and threw it at Clockwerk. Unfortunately, the robotic owl dodged out of its way, and the firework hit the Great Wall of China instead! That was where Matt's parents were tied to a post!

"My RC Chopper will save you!" cried Penelope. "One… two…" But before she could say "three", the firework had homed back in on the Panda King, and having missed him, destroyed the Chopper instead!

"Oh no!" cried the Guru in his own language. "What are we to do?"

"One thing I'm sure of" said a voice behind them, "is that you're all going to jail."

The lot of them spun around to see Inspector Neyla standing there. Without Sly or Matt to smooth-talk her out of their way, what were they going to do?

"Not yet they're not" said a voice from behind Neyla. It was Carmelita. "We've got some thieves to save! Come on, gang!" 

Carmelita and the gang ran as fast as they could towards the Great Wall of China. They eventually managed to out-run Neyla, who was trapped on the edge of a cliff.

"Hold on!" Carmelita shouted to Sly, Matt and her parents. "I'm going to save you!"

"Carmelita!" shouted Sly. "Watch out!"

Before the vixen could speak, Clockwerk grasped her in his gigantic claw!

The gang, that is Bentley, Murray, Guru, Dimitri, Penelope, Garry, Panda King and Lawrence, watched from a distance. "OK everybody" said Bentley. "On my three. ONE… TWO… THREE!"

Penelope's RC Chopper, Bentley's technology-powered gadgets, Panda King's fireworks, Guru's guard possessing, Dimitri's electrifying scuba gear, and Garry and Murray's fists, all raged towards Clockwerk. No more than one hit from each damaged the robotic owl completely. His body parts fell down below, crushing Neyla like a bug. However there was one thing the gang didn't count on… Clockwerk's inner child!

The guy inside looked very much like Sly. He wore traditional black-white robber's clothes, which were torn, and an eyepatch across his face. Surprisingly though, he didn't go for Sly!

"Hi Matt!" he shrieked in his high-pitched voice. "Remember me! When I killed your brother?"

Matt gulped. Sly stepped in front of him to confront the evil fiend. "Carter! Carter Yls Cooper, my faithful twin brother! We meet again!"

Carter nodded. "True! True it is! Why you became the family heir, I don't know, but I am the ultimate master thief now!!!"

"Oh really?" said a voice from behind. Carmelita was facing Carter, and without further ado, she slapped the handcuffs on him. Just then, a series of police cars appeared, and out stepped Chief Porter.

"Neyla? Neyla?" Neyla scrambled to the top of the Great Wall. "Wha? What?"

"What happened to you?" asked Porter. He didn't even require an answer. He just removed the badge and pushed Neyla off the cliff. Then he turned to Carmelita. "Inspector Fox…"

"Ex-Inspector, you mean"

"No, Carmelita. You caught a horde of thieves, and I now promote you to Inspector."

"Woo-hoo!" shrieked Carmelita. "Come on, Cooper, Tember, let's go… OH NO!" Her targets had all escaped! All except one…

As Carmelita stuffed Carter into the back of the police car, Carter yelled out, "I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

From a distance, Sly and the gang watched. Ah, the lovely Carmelita, Sly thought. Just as angry as ever.

"Thanks for saving us, Matt" said Mr. Tember.

"Oh, don't thank me" said his son in reply. "Thank the Cooper gang, and the lovely Carmelita."

"She's out there somewhere…" said Sly, winking towards the audience.

THE END.


End file.
